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European Steam and Gas Turbines Markets
Frost & Sullivan, Feb 2005
New EU Members Poised to Dominate the European Steam and Gas Turbines Market
The addition of ten central and eastern European countries to the European Union (EU) - even while the process of liberalisation in the electricity market is still under progress - is expected to tilt the electricity trade balance in favour of the new members. Not only that, these entrants are also tipped to become the next ‘engine of growth’. Huge investments are expected to flow into the region’s power sector, opening up vast opportunities as well as challenges for steam and gas turbine manufacturers. The entrenched and vulnerable regional original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are likely to find themselves pitted against the technological edge of their counterparts in Western Europe. In such a situation, joint ventures and partnerships are likely to become increasingly common.
This Frost & Sullivan strategic analysis service provides an overview and update of the European steam and gas turbine markets. The steam turbine segment has been divided into 5 MW to 50 MW, 50 MW to 100 MW, 100 MW to 300 MW and more than 300 MW. The gas turbine sector has been segmented into 5 MW to 15 MW, 15 to 60 MW, 60 to 180 MW and more than 180 MW. The research service enables companies to align their positioning strategies to benefit from the changing markets and obtain maximum return on investment.
Gas Turbine Market Needs to Be Cautious about Renewed Challenge from Coal
After a decade of isolation, coal is all set to stage a comeback, helped by highly efficient clean-coal technologies, the seemingly unlimited quantities of coal and rising oil and gas prices. Using carbon sequestration technology, coal-based plants can shed their ‘pollutant’ image and provide clean power. However, coal will be up against advances in gas turbine and these technological upgrades can play an important role in settling the outcome of the contest between gas and coal.
Governments have been actively considering use of coal to reduce their dependence on imported gas. In fact, less stringent emission norms for the power generation sector are favouring coal-based technologies. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is working on several clean-coal technologies including biomass gasification and carbon sequestration, says the analyst of this research. Utility companies are also advancing in their research on making coal-based power plants cleaner and more efficient.
Market Experiences a Shift toward Distributed Generation
Driven by the need to reduce the usage of fossil fuels, the EU has been encouraging renewable energy technologies and ‘good-quality combined heat and power (CHP)’. Wind energy is set to become an important source of electricity in the region with biomass-coal co-firing also contributing in no small measure. This will mean more emphasis on distributed generation, turning the market’s attention to smaller steam and single-cycle gas turbines. However, maintaining reliability and availability of these systems with increasing efficiency and decreasing emission levels is the top concern for all turbine manufacturers.
Long-term options also include hybrid power stations, frequently combining fuel cells and gas turbines, notes the analyst. Although not quite renewable, with practically zero emissions and efficiencies of more than 65-70 per cent, CHP has the potential to garner an important share of the distributed generation market.
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